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We always hear the tired, smug line "they can dominate their crappy little league but they'd be middle of the pack in the Big _______." This year we finally got a chance to see if this is true and we have our friends from Creighton to thank. This is essentially the exact same team minus their starting center from last year that lost 5 games in the "crappy" Missouri Valley Conference. Every player on their roster was recruited to play in the MVC not the Big East. If you haven't noticed, Creighton's record in the Big East is far better than it was in the Valley with basically the same players. They are not only not middle of the pack, they are dominating the Big East much more than they did the MVC last year. I'm no CU fan but they are destroying the argument that a top mid major team can't compete against the "grueling" schedule of a "major " conference.
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You hit the nail on the head, really nothing that alot of us who REALLY follow the Valley and know good basketball when they see it. Every year the Valley's top two to three teams were always able to compete with the so-called big boys when given a fair chance. Usually for your non-bcs schools to play a high caliper bcs team you have to go on the road, very rarely do we get the home and home. Normally we have to wait and play these teams on a neutral court in some pre-league tournement. It's never going to be a even playing field until non-bcs schools play the so-called big boys in the NCAA tournement. Even then we are usually given a tough seed to where we are playing in a higher seeds backyard. Usually a non-bcs school has to have years of success and a outstanding record with a few signuture wins to get a good seed, because the big 6 conferences are always going to get 5-6 teams in with the majority of the better seedings. But through it all there is usually a Butler, VCU, George Mason, UNLV, Wichita State who comes along a spoils the elites party. Thats why I can't stand people like Digger Phelps, or Doug Gottlieb, ect. who are so dismissive of WSU or otheir non-bcs schools just because they don't play in the big 12, big 10 ,acc ect. Gets alittle old and reduntant listening to them squabble about their strenth of schedual and how every game in those leagues are so so good. I watch alot of basketball from around the country, and when you strip off the jerseys more times than not you don't see much of a difference. Of course the elite teams like Ku, Kentucky, Michigan ST., Duke, those teams are usually very solid, and always have the top big men thats available, but what about guards and small forwards. The Valley has had their share of great guards and small forwards. An emphasis on defense and good three point shooting has always been a big part of the Valley. The league is down this year, thats no secret, but it has alot of very young teams this year and Creighton leaving left a big hole to fill. Eventually it will be filled. We have good coaches in the Valley, I just hope they stay and get paid well enough to not bolt when they have some success. -
There's only one cure for this, the Shockers have to represent in March Madness. Elite 8 or Final Four will shut some of the BCS fans up, a National Championship will shut them all the eff up.
Unfortunately, anything less than an Elite 8 will get all these punks pointing fingers, laughing and spewing out the "I told you so's" and overrated chants we'll have to put up with.
The ironic thing is, I think us Shocker fans feel more pressure for the boyz to succeed than the actual players. I think Gregg and Co., and the players have all their heads on straight and won't succumb to the added pressure of trying to go undefeated, and going all the way. If they are feeling the pressure, then they all deserve Oscars because you can't tell. This gives me hope.Comment
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For years Gonzaga has been beating OOC teams early in the season and yet the discussion continues. It is going to take a long time for talking heads to realize that there isn't that big of a difference between teams 25-125.Comment
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We went down this road in 2011 when we won the NFL and DESTROYED every mid level BCS team in our pathKansas is Flat. The Earth is Not!!
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Memphis has been adapting to life in the AAC pretty well...I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to lose a conference game and move like 1 or 2 spots in the polls.Comment
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Sweet 16 or better is good enough for critics. Nothing is good enough for the haters.Originally posted by KC Shox View PostKansas is Flat. The Earth is Not!!
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The biggest problem I feel for Gonzaga was that they never really had a big run despite the amounts of time they have been in the NCAA's. I think they did go to an elite 8 fairly early in Fews start there. I think its unfair, they have been good for along time, do people pick on Missouri for not making any noise at the big dance. They act like Gonzaga wasn't any good last year and overated because we beat them, what a joke, they gave us aurguabley our toughest game otheir than Louisville of courseComment
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I think Gonzaga was better than Louisville last year. We just didn't close out the Cardinals like we did against Gonzaga. I thought the Zags played a better overall game than UL. We were just unbelievable the last 6 minutes. It was ridiculous that Gonzaga were labeled chokers after that game. They would have beaten just about anybody else that day.Originally posted by Blackmag View PostComment
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agree with jocoshock, sweet 16 or better, but we want more and so does the team. Their will be alot of pressure from the outside for this team to prove themselves. Whatever happens this has been a special year, and I believe that this run is going to carry over to next year and beyondComment
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let's face it, alot of times its all about the name on the jersey and the perception behind itComment
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Listening to Doug today you could tell that's the depth of his analysis. He judges teams and players based on what it says on their jersey and then what conference they play in.Originally posted by Blackmag View PostComment
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Agreed. That will never change. The beauty, though, is that it's a new day. The name Wichita State will carry a perception not present before. This run and publicity is priceless.Originally posted by Blackmag View PostComment
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Always gonna be haters. Screw 'em. We have so many new fans nationally that the Douggies of the world are just a tick on our asses. Flick off.Originally posted by pie n eye View Post
Who heard the commentators during the Kstate game Tuesday talking about the possibility of a KU WSU matchup deep in the tournament. They were giddy about that dream matchup. The quote was "do you think anyone would wanna watch that? It might be one of the biggest anticipated games in tournament history."
Yeah. I heard that too.Comment
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I wonder what the MVC's RPI would be if CU was still in the league and we still did Bracket Busters.Comment
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